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South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is a country bounded on the south by 2,798 kilometers of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian oceans,91011 on the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and on the east by Mozambique and Swaziland, and surrounding the kingdom of Lesotho.12 South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area, and with close to 53 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the constitution's recognition of 11 official languages, which is among the highest number of any country in the world.11 Two of these languages are of European origin: Afrikaans developed from Dutch and serves as the first language of most white and coloured South Africans; English reflects the legacy of British colonialism, and is commonly used in public and commercial life, though it is fourth-ranked as a spoken first language.11 About 80 percent of South Africans are of sub-Saharan African ancestry,5 divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status.11 The remaining population consists ofAfrica's largest communities of European (white), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (coloured) ancestry. Since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have had political representation in the country's constitutional democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the "Rainbow Nation," a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and later adopted by then-President Nelson Mandela as a metaphor to describe the country's newly developing multicultural diversity in the wake of segregationist apartheid ideology.13 The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'état, and regular elections have been held for almost a century. But the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a large role in the country's recent history and politics. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalizing previous racial segregation. After a long and sometimes violent struggle by the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid activists, discriminatory laws began to be repealed or abolished from 1990 onwards. South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank, and is considered to be a newly industrialised country.1415 Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world.6 In terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed and living on less than US$1.25 a day.1617 Nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence.1819 All sources from Wikipedia. Category:Nations Category:Nations in Africa Category:Real Nations Category:Present Day Category:African Union Category:ZPCAS Category:Pages Category:Page Category:Independent Nation Category:Former Colony Category:Former British Colony Category:Former Dutch Colonies Category:Countries in Africa Category:Countries Category:Modern Nations Category:Present day Category:Modern Countries